Brands
Amazon’s policy chief skips over to Meta
NEW DELHI: Aman Jain has clearly mastered the art of the big-tech shuffle. After a two-year stint steering Amazon through India’s treacherous regulatory waters as director of public policy, he is decamping next month to Meta as senior director and country head of public policy. It is a timely move: Meta’s family of apps—WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook—dominate Indian screens, yet face mounting scrutiny from regulators who seem to discover new ways to make Mark Zuckerberg’s life difficult every quarter.
He steps into Shivnath Thukral’s shoes, who left Meta earlier this year to join fintech major PhonePe. Jain is expected to take charge in early 2026 and will report directly to vice president of policy for Asia Pacific (APAC) Simon Milner.
Jain is no stranger to navigating Delhi’s labyrinthine corridors of power. His CV reads like a greatest-hits compilation of tech giants grappling with Indian bureaucracy. He spent over seven years at Google, ascending from policy manager to head of government affairs, with a brief detour as industry head for fintech. Before Amazon came calling in late 2023, he had already cut his teeth advising India’s minister of youth affairs and sports and consulting for the US Department of Justice.
The appointment suggests Meta is girding itself for policy battles ahead. India, with its 750 million internet users, is too lucrative to lose but too complex to navigate without serious local firepower. Jain’s LinkedIn post gushes about Meta’s “vibrant creator and small business ecosystem”—code, perhaps, for the monetisation engine that regulators increasingly want to tax, regulate or simply understand.
His earlier career offers intriguing texture. As president and chief executive of Aiesec International from 2009 to 2010, he ran a global youth organisation spanning 110 countries, wrangling a diverse 18-person team and achieving 50 per cent growth. Not bad for someone in their twenties.
Later roles at Peter & David Enterprises and various Washington think-tanks added private-sector nous and American policy chops to his repertoire.
Meta’s gambit is clear: hire someone who knows how Delhi thinks, how Silicon Valley operates, and how to keep both reasonably happy. Whether Jain can square that circle whilst India’s government tightens the regulatory screws remains the billion-dollar—or should that be billion-rupee—question.
Brands
Burda Media sells BurdaLuxury to Jaipur Capital in Southeast Asia push
Deal hands regional media portfolio to Singapore investor eyeing luxury growth
MUMBAI: Burda Media has agreed to sell its Southeast Asia-focused business, BurdaLuxury, to Jaipur Capital, marking a strategic shift for both companies as they double down on their respective growth priorities.
The deal will see Jaipur Capital acquire BurdaLuxury’s media operations across Thailand, India, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong. The portfolio spans content marketing and media brands in travel, luxury and aviation, giving the investor a ready-made regional footprint and a sizeable audience base.
Jaipur Capital plans to build on this foundation to create a premium media network in Southeast Asia, blending high-end editorial with scalable digital platforms. As part of the transaction, all BurdaLuxury employees, including its management team, will move to the new owner, ensuring continuity as the business enters its next phase.
For Burda Media, the sale is part of a broader strategy to sharpen its focus on core European markets while scaling investments in digital-first opportunities. The company will, however, maintain its interest in the region through Burda Principal Investments, its global growth capital arm.
“This transaction reflects our commitment to sharpening our international focus while ensuring that BurdaLuxury continues to thrive in Southeast Asia,” said Burda Media CEO Jan Wachtel, adding that Jaipur Capital recognises the strength of the brands and teams involved.
Jaipur Capital, meanwhile, is betting big on the region’s appetite for premium content. “This acquisition significantly strengthens our premium content ecosystem,” said Jaipur Capital director Vikas Johari. He highlighted the business’s strong digital tilt, with 46 per cent of revenues coming from online channels, alongside a diversified presence across five markets.
The numbers tell a compelling story. BurdaLuxury clocks 48 million annual page views and reaches more than 40 million followers on social media, with no single market contributing over a quarter of total revenues. Jaipur Capital now aims to expand these brands further into Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines, while also exploring opportunities in the Middle East, including the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
With this deal, Burda Media trims its global footprint to focus on depth over breadth, while Jaipur Capital steps onto a bigger stage in the premium content space. If execution matches ambition, this could be a defining chapter for luxury media in the region.
